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Magic Defrag Review

by Dennis Faas on October, 5 2005 at 08:10AM EDT

Infopackets Reader Jim M. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I always have problems running Microsoft Windows defrag because it continually restarts and takes forever to finish. A lot of the time I have to restart my computer in Safe Mode and run defrag just to get it to finish properly -- and most of the time it takes 2 to 4 hours to complete and I cannot use my computer! I am writing you today because I just finished reading your latest article on PowerUp XP Platinum 2, and noticed that you briefly mentioned a program called Magic Defrag. Can you please tell me how this works? I've never heard of a defrag program that is capable of keeping the hard disk defragged *all* the time. Thanks for any information you can provide. "

My response:

Magic Defrag was released by Ashampoo a few days before PowerUp XP Platinum 2 was announced, which is why the two programs are currently being offered as a bundled special. As for how the Magic Defrag works: let me first explain why defragging is important (in case others are wondering) so that we can understand the full purpose of the program.

How File Fragmentation Occurs

Over time, files are added and removed to your computer's hard disk (I.E.: the "C" Drive). When a file is removed from the hard disk, an empty space takes its place. When a new file is written, the hard drive tries to fill this empty space; if the new file is too large for the space, it is partially written and the rest of the file is stored in another available space. This is referred to as file fragmentation.

Why File Fragmentation is Costly in Performance

A fragmented file always takes longer to acquire (versus a non-fragmented file) because the hard drive must access more than one location; this causes unnecessary overhead, which translates into a delay when accessing (reading / writing) a file. This is especially true if many files on the hard disk are fragmented (which is more often the case than not, depending on how often you defrag your hard drive).

Why Defragging is Critically Important Maintenance

Defragging is the process of taking all the fragmented files and rewriting them into a contiguous [side-by-side] location. Depending on how fragmented your hard drive is, the defragging process can take anywhere from a few minutes (very unlikely) to a few hours to complete (*much* more likely). Once the drive is defragged, files can be accessed almost instantaneously. In terms of how important defragging is when it comes to optimizing a system: it is absolutely critical maintenance.

And now that we understand the defrag process, let's look at the features of Ashampoo Magic Defrag.

How Ashampoo Magic Defrag works

As we have learned, files on a hard drive get split up into multiple fragments. Finding and reading these fragments takes much longer than accessing a file that is all stored in a contiguous location (I.E.: in 1 location).

Ashampoo Magic Defrag works by defragging the hard drive on a continual basis. Magic Defrag uses very little overhead and runs quietly in the background, keeping the hard disk tidy at all times.

Ashampoo Magic Defrag only activates when enough unused resources are available and stops immediately whenever the user does anything that requires more computer capacity (for example: when a program is started or used). The program achieves this by monitoring all the relevant parameters, including processor load and hard disk access.

How Ashampoo Magic Defrag is Superior to Microsoft's Defrag

Ashampoo Magic Defrag is superior to Microsoft' (free) defrag program because you never need to schedule a time to defrag your computer. With Ashampoo Magic defrag, it's always working to keep your hard disk optimized at all times. In terms of computing performance, having a optimized hard drive at all times is a *huge* gain!

Ashampoo Magic Defrag Highlights:

Low overhead. You don't even know it's running!

Set it and Forget it Technology: Once the program is installed it runs in the background as a service and keeps the hard disk defragmented automatically.

Defragments the hard disk automatically and "invisibly" in the background, so your hard drive is *always* optimized and never requires a scheduled defrag.

Pauses defragmentation automatically as soon as other programs require processor capacity or access the hard disk. Switching to Pause mode (if needed) only takes around one second!

No analysis needed -- defragmentation starts immediately! The advanced defragmentation algorithm eliminates the need for a time-consuming analysis phase. This means that the program is genuinely productive whenever it's running, even if it's just for a few seconds.

Multi-user support: Once the administrator has installed the program it keeps running, even on restricted user accounts without administrator rights.

Statistic functions for monitoring defragmentation.

Also defragments the hard disk when no user is logged in.

Can be controlled and monitored via a local network.

Ashampoo Magic Defrag Highlights: Download it Today!

Ashampoo Magic Defrag is a steal at $12.99 and can be purchased via Ashampoo's web site using the link below.